Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Safer AZ, the cannabis reform Political Action Committee
behind last year’s marijuana legalization initiative, has refiled their
organizational paperwork with the Arizona Secretary of State’s office to join the campaigns to legalize
cannabis and hemp in 2016. In their
original incarnation, past-president Robert Clark will continue as co-chair with
founder, Dave Wisniewski, for the new cycle. Mikel Weisser will serve as
treasurer and continue as political director. In their recently released 2016
cycle business plan, Safer AZ announced intentions to develop a full-scale
operation for 2016, complete with a paid staff and a fundraising arm of the
organization. As their 2014 initiative’s author, PHX-based computer programmer,
Dennis Bohlke explains, “AZ doesn’t have a drug problem, we have a political
problem and this is how you solve it. We have got to stop the madness of
destroying people’s lives for a plant. Everyone here is an activist. There’s no
way we’re stopping now.”

Billing themselves a “full-service” cannabis political
action committee, Safer AZ 2016 (new name for the new cycle) expects to be
continuing with their same programs, but on a greatly expanded scale. Since filing
their new paperwork on Dec. 5th, the group has already held interviews
with four state legislators to discuss their legislative agenda for the
upcoming 2015 session, re-launched their product line of their iconic green “MARIJUANA
IS SAFER THAN ALCOHOL” tee-shirts and begun the networking and fundraising to
build for the legalization 2016 push.

The controversial organization has been at the forefront of
Arizona pot politics since Safer AZ made national news in June of 2013 by writing
a cannabis legalization ballot measure for the 2014 election cycle, two years
ahead of the nationally recognized Marijuana Policy Project’s proposed 2016
campaign. Often stuck negotiating between warring camps (pro-cannabis industry
v pro-consumer, anarchist activists v political operatives, MPP supporters v
AZ-only activists, just to name a few) Safer AZ’s greatest achievement may be
that after two years, groups that never would have spoken to each other have
formed a coalition to set an overall strategy.

Originally founded by David Wisniewski, a tech savvy active
duty soldier then-stationed in South Korea, and three other far-flung Arizonans
(Tucson’s Clark, PHX based Bohkle and Weisser in Kingman), Safer AZ operated as
a totally volunteer organization. Strong on ideas, though weak on resources, the
upstart political action committee’s four principles soon began an ambitious agenda
with supporters around the state signing up to join the movement.

Wisniewski built an online community through the PAC website
and Facebook page that soon grew to have thousands or followers nationwide. Bohlke and Clark organized dozens of activists
and taught them to collect signatures. Weisser joined PHX-based cannabis activists,
holding demonstrations, creating 420 focused musical fun-raisers, giving
rallying speeches and “movement status reports” for all the trendy 420 groups,
in addition to conducting a series of legislative interviews and demonstrations
at the state capitol. Safer AZ leadership also served as the go-to voice of AZ
cannabis reform, appearing in numerous clips on PHX and Tucson local news
channels and talk radio stations, as a recurring subject for the PHX New Times,
and even in articles by the New York Times and Huffington Post.

One Safer AZ idea, “The Harm Reduction Measure,” was picked
up by Democratic West Valley legislator, Mark Cardenas (LD-19) and introduced
as HB2474. If passed, the bill would have amended state statutes on marijuana
arrests. Currently ARS 13-3405 requires that all marijuana related arrests
begin as felony arrests. Cardenas promises to revisit the idea in the upcoming
legislative session. “I’m getting my bills together and we already have
legislative counsel on it. It was a good idea, it’s still a good idea,” Cardenas
says.

Early attention and accolades did not sustain the volunteer
based group’s base of activists, however; and even the central four only had so
much time in a day. As Weisser explains, “We all worked on the parts we liked
and no one worked enough on central organization. We all had full-time commitments
already. Dave was in the Army. I mean gee, give the guy a break. Dennis runs a
computer company, I was running for Congress. Robert has health issues. Nobody
had the time to work on it full-time. We rarely worked on fundraising and you
can only do so much w zero budget.” The group eventually pulled their
initiative in June of 2014 vowing to continue building on their gains and
re-launch at the turn of the election cycle. True to their word, Clark, Weisser
and Wisniewski were at the counter with the AZ Secretary of State’s elections
office with new paperwork on the first day of the new cycle.

“While we are not actually
filing the petitions for the ballot initiatives, these are issues we have been
promoting,” explained PAC co-chair, Robert Clark. “We are working with the
committees running these initiatives to help them with the organizing and
getting out the message. AND, to make sure we’re getting language that we like.
But there is a lot more to making marijuana legal than just writing a bill and
that’s where we come in.”

Saturday, December 13, 2014

I don’t know about you dear readers, but in many ways now
five weeks since election day, I am still trying to figure out what to make of
my recent campaign. As a choice that controlled my life for the past two years,
I knew I should take an opportunity to reflect now that it is over; and as I
opened my mail today, that chance came my way, when I found a letter that
started like this:

Dear 2014 candidate for public office:My
name is James K. Hertog. I'm an Associate Professor ofMedia Studies at the
University of Kentucky. My
students and I are researching a set of critical issues for American
political campaigns. We have developed a survey asking candidates like
yourself about your personal and professional experiences campaigning for
public office and your evaluation of the campaign process.

While the majority of the survey was multiple choice and
other forms of putting check marks in boxes, there were a few essay answer
opportunities and after I realized I was waxing eloquent and investing well
over a 1000 words talking about the campaign, I decided I could turn this into a
chance to check back in w you, campaign followers, and tell you how it looks
from this end. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you saw the campaign
from a different angle.

…

What made this social
media platform the most effective for your campaign?

As a poor campaign we depended heavily on grassroots word of
mouth and the tribal drums these days are the heartbeat of Facebook, or
something like that. Using Twitter to drive my Facebook, I could build a
message on the campaign blog that passed through several platforms: survey
reply-->blog post-->website update-->twitter post-->Facebook
personal page-->Facebook campaign page & shares-->campaign email.
Since I had no staff, multi-purposing every task was critical. Further since we
could share easily info w like-minded activists and organizations (NORML, PDA &
DFA, for example), social media served as a primary communications line in the
campaign as well, more often than email.

…

Please use the
following text field if you would like to expand on your answers to the
previous questions about campaign communications, to illustrate them with
experiences from your campaign, or to identify additional communication methods
you employed.

Social media is the chance for poor campaigns to achieve
larger results. The plutocrats who run this country are doing all they can to
maintain their powers but our social media can equal their mass media if the
current trends continue. I work to make this so, before they consume us all. Of
note, one of my platform issues, cannabis reform, has become my personal
central issue and I am now the executive director of Safer Arizona, the state's
leading cannabis PAC.

…

If you would like to
expand upon your answers, to provide examples from your campaign experience, or
to identify additional critiques of news coverage you think should be included
in this study please use the text box below.

I was the liberal thrown to the right wing talk radio
listeners for a couple of radio stations in the state. In particular, a gun
oriented talk show had me on twice, for four full hours, debating gun policy.
Another couple of general right wing shows had me on. I was also on internet
radio to a lesser degree and can't clearly identify any impact it might've had
beyond a momentary blip.

My twitter following grew by a couple 100 and my FB
following by over a 1000 during this cycle. Since I am a leader in the state's
leading cannabis PAC and the Democratic party and other activist groups I got
to cross-pollinate and get the members of the different communities working
together on Facebook and then in-person. I am still using the same principles
and hoping to expand ever further.

All in all, what
level of knowledge would you say voters had about your candidacy?

Please use this space
if you would like to add any comments regarding what influenced voter knowledge
concerning your candidacy.

$$$--media told me early on if I had money they would follow
my efforts and then ignored my every effort to earn their attention.

…

For you, personally,
would you say that the experience of running for public office was:

Very Positive

What did you find
most personally rewarding about running for office?

The personal relationships and connections created such deep
and interesting experiences. My congressional district is larger than most
states and required much time on the road, being an extremely poor campaign we
depended on the kindness of supporters and stayed in dozens of places from
mansion guest suites to trailer couches and slept on the floor more than once.
The people I met and who supported me were as varied as their houses and we had
extraordinary adventures. I also developed a statewide circle of pet supporters
as well and being greeted w a wagging tail when you are road weary and far from
home is very comforting.

What did you find
most difficult or upsetting about running for office?

The tug of war between time spent was the greatest conflict
I faced. In the field or time spent fundraising? Home town or on the road?
Cannabis reform or appeal to moderate dems? All decisions made opponents for me
and over the course of the election often both sides of a coin caused me
conflicts. As an entertainer prior to going into politics, we often joked that
my performances were too sacred for the profane and too profane for the sacred
and it often felt that way. I was very focused on a populist workingman
uprising message for example, I wore construction worker clothes in the same
way western styled politicians in AZ will adopt cowboy garb. I was a plumber
until 35 so I felt it was credible for me to represent the working poor; but I
received continuous backlash from traditionalists who felt a candidate should
appear elevated. One of my lines about my clothes was "I didn't come here
to play dress up" and another was "We have got to stop looking for
new leaders who replicate the imagery of our oppressors." While it helped
me w the general public and was actually a strategy crafted by me and state
party leadership, local leaders who saw themselves as party insiders fought me
on this relentlessly. I guess that was the ultimate difficulty: the gap between
the support I could get at different levels, but not all levels of the party.

What would you say
were your campaign's most significant accomplishments? Please do not limit your
answer to electoral success.

The biggest accomplishment was the road schedule. We
traveled over a 1000 miles a week most of the past two years, well over 100,000
miles in the cycle. It took 9 different vehicles to accomplish this including 7
straight weeks of various rental cars. This required developing a network of
supporters and donors beyond the hobby campaign of the typical outmatched
place-marker underdog. Any month's thank you list would include over 100 people
I had had personal and important moments with, the scope of the experience is
still staggering. In the process we developed the respect of a couple of
national groups, DFA, PDA & Blue America, and PDA's national endorsement.
Statewide we gained the support and gratitude of state party leadership and
grew to be welcomed among party leaders and my fellow candidates as well. As
one writer (with only 3 guest columns out of 101 blog posts) and illustrator, I
maintained a website and blog for two years straight with all original content
and artwork. As for constituent services or "case work," I took great
joy in helping about a 12 people who came to me for help the way they would've
gone to the congressman's office. I learned several referral networks and
frequently felt fulfilled the way I had when I had run the help desk at a
homeless while in grad school. Lastly I want to note that the greatest
accomplishment of the campaign was the fact we could accomplish so much on so
little funding. My wife ran our accounting and our family went from a $70,000 a
year budget to food stamps and yet we still created a full scale congressional
campaign out of thin air and about $36,000. I spent hardly 3 hours a week on
average raising money and yet we were everywhere. That is why the road schedule
was so impressive.

…

If you wish to
provide additional recommendations or comments concerning how to improve
electoral campaigns please type them here.

As a congressional candidate I signed a pledge to support a
Constitutional amendment to end corporate sponsorship and another to call for
federally funding of elections.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Safer AZ Status Report: Dec. 7, 2014

Safer AZ is proud to announce we have re-filed our campaign
committee paperwork for the 2016 election cycle and will be working with Arizona’s
aligned cannabis activist groups on a statewide campaign to legalize marijuana
in AZ in 2016. As a political action committee (PAC ID No.
201400153) Safer AZ led the state’s cannabis reform community with our own 2014
legalization campaign and successfully shaped cannabis-related legislation at
the state house in last year’s session. In addition we created, or helped
create, dozens of events around the state, developed an online community of
nearly 5000 activists and frequently served as a voice that the media turned to
for a breath of marijuana sanity to counter the toxic propaganda of folks like
Bill Montgomery or Sheila Polk.

But, as a PAC, during the 2014 election cycle,
Safer AZ was greatly limited in resources: essentially the part-time work of 4
independent organizers hundreds, even thousands of miles apart, Safer could not
develop the resources necessary to complete our election goals and had to
suspend our petition drive in June of 2014. We knew we had to re-organize.
After the election, Safer AZ leadership had a choice: allow all our progress to
come to an end once we filed our final Federal Elections Commission report on
December 4th, OR, re-file our campaign and fight on. With the voices
of the community calling for action and the support of the premiere national
cannabis-reform organization, MPP (the Marijuana Policy Project), and the six other
leading AZ cannabis activist groups in the state, Safer AZ is back and we’re bigger
than ever.

Once again Safer AZ is committed to:

1.Public
Advocacy: Safer AZ is a voice for the public with a web, media and public
presence, creating demonstrations and events around the state; helping patients
and others in the community get their stories heard.

2.Social
Media Communications: With a Facebook following of nearly 5000 and an
average weekly readership over 3500, Safer Arizona can create and has led email
and phone call campaigns. Our Facebook page serves as a nexus for various
activists and groups to spread word of their own activities.

3.Legislative
Action: Safer AZ successfully introduced a cannabis decriminalization bill at
the AZ state house last session and we are focused on developing the
relationships w state legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, and that
includes keeping the larger community informed of statehouse developments.

4.Electoral
Watchdog: Through our web pages, Safer AZ has tracked both elected
officials and candidates’ positions on cannabis related issues, creating
district level maps so voters can support pro-cannabis issues at the ballot box
and provided contact info for candidates and officials so you can make your
voice heard.

5.Counter-Propaganda
Force: In AZ, the anti-cannabis
community and the leaders of the state prosecutors and law enforcement have
banded together to power an anti-cannabis media campaign through their
organization, Matforce. Safer AZ is committed to challenging Matforce
propaganda both through our web presence and in person; by helping local
activists organize counter-protests and court support for cannabis defendants
in conjunction w the Human Solution. We provide speakers to various civic
organizations, public debates, and news media needing a quote from an
authoritative source to challenge Matforce whenever and wherever possible.

And most importantly,

6.Cannabis
Activist Volunteer Organization: Over the past 2 yrs, literally hundreds of
Arizonans have joined our cause and volunteered--in their community, online,
and at the state capitol. As the 2016 campaign becomes more visible, Safer AZ
can serve a volunteer nexus, connecting newcomers to existing local groups,
creating activist-business partnerships and training would-be activists to
become their own community leaders. We have activists across the state and can show
local groups how to take on their own community challenges and help change the
culture of prohibition. Creating quality experiences for AZ activists will
build our movement and change the state.

You can make a difference today:

1.Wear your “Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol”
tee-shirt in public whenever, wherever possible. It is an amazingly effective
way to promote education and will lead to exciting positive teaching and
sharing experiences you would not imagine.

2.Host an awareness event in your home or in your community

3.Letter writing to your local media and elected
officials and to state and federal officials

4.Creating a 420-friendly entertainment event in
your community

5.Attending and staffing demonstrations and events
in the PHX area

6.Representing Safer AZ and the cannabis reform
community at public events and debates

7.Manning a Safer Arizona booth at community
events

8.Collecting signatures

9.Share on social media

10.Connect us to your family and friends so we can
expand our reach.

11.Attend a local political meeting or elected
officials meetings

12.Make $5 monthly donation

13.Take leadership position in organizing and
training others in your area after you’ve worked w us a while.

MOVEMENT UPDATE (Dec.
6, 2014):

Following the Nov. 4th election, AZ’s leading
cannabis activists groups announced the development of a new cannabis activist
super-group, the Cannabis Consumer Coalition, to ally the activities of th e
different groups cannabis consumers, as separate from the cannabis, hemp, and
medical marijuana industries. These groups and members of the dispensary
industry are working w the central campaign committee, MPP of AZ, which will
run the ballot initiative and coordinate efforts w MPP national. The overall
campaign is expected to cost $3.2 million over the next two years. An
informational meeting explaining the overall strategy was held in Tempe’s
Purple Haze House (27 West Baseline) which brought different activist groups
together in a semi-formal setting for the 1st time. Among the groups
on hand were Safer AZ, PHX NORML, PCC (PHX Cannabis Coalition, AZ 4NORML
(Tucson based), SSDP (Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, both the ASU &
the U of A chapters), RAMMP (Registry of Arizona Medical Marijuana Patients)
& the Human Solution. At that meeting, noted cannabis criminal defense
attorney (and former NORML national legal counsel) Tom Dean presented his
recommendations for amendments to existing state marijuana statutes
(ARS13-3405) that will be necessary in the upcoming ballot initiative.
Representing the newly formed CCC group, attorney Dean conducted a Q&A, and
incorporated notes from the evening and has presented our proposed amendments
to MPP of AZ to be part of the drafting process for the new ballot initiative.

In late Nov. MPP of AZ began the drafting process working w
staff from the national offices of MPP, Ryan Hurley of Scottsdale-based Rose
Law Firm and various pro-bono in-state volunteers. A poll is expected in
January to determine public attitudes on legalization as a whole and on the
hot-button topic of grow rights. Across the nation citizens’ rights to
cultivate and process their own marijuana vary greatly from state to state.
Following polling results, the final version of the proposed initiative should
be available to the public by late February. The petition gathering campaign
will kick-off in March. This campaign cycle, due to poor midterm voter turnout
in the 2014 elections, the ballot initiative will require only 172,000
signatures, a decrease of almost 80,000 from the previous cycle.

INSIDE SAFER:

The Safer Arizona 2016 cycle re-organization features the following changes:

“Staff” (w no pay yet, can you really call us “Staff”?)

Stepping sideways 2014 president Robert Clark will now be co-chair
w Dave Wisniewski. In addition, Robert will continue directing Tucson and rural
southeastern operations. Dave will be responsible for PHX & central AZ
operations. Dennis Bohlke will step down as treasurer. Political director,
Mikel Weisser will assume that role and is acting finance director as well. Three
regional leaders were announced as well: Yavapai County—Mark Goodman, North
Valley—Benny Ingram & West Valley—John Howlett. If you have been a
volunteer w Safer AZ and are wanting to take a leadership position in your area:
call 928-234-5633

Our merchandising of our green “Marijuana is Safer than
Alcohol” tee-shirts is resumed and
additional products such as stickers, lighters, cups, ball-caps and our
fashion-line of Safer AZ are in the works. An order will be placed 12/8/14 and
will be available for the holiday season.

Our legislative agenda has begun and we are scheduling
appointments w AZ state legislators for the upcoming session. We are seeking
volunteers to meet w their representatives and senators and give them a true
face of an AZ cannabis user instead of the twisted propaganda our opponents use
to demonize us.

Now that the 2014 election cycle is officially completed,
the Mikel Weisser for US Congress campaign is suspending operations on this
site for the time being. Please continue to follow the action in this blog and @
http://saferarizona.com.

It is without hesitation that I can say, at no point prior
to choosing to become a medical patient in the summer of 2012, could I have
predicted the role cannabis reform would come to play in my life. After falling
in my primary in Aug. of that year; and then deciding to press what few
political chips I had to arrange a first few meetings w legislators to discuss
flaws in AZ’s medical marijuana program in Dec. of 2012, I met Dennis Bohlke
and Robert Clark and they asked me if I would join them in their work on
cannabis reform. Since that moment, my life has gone through what feels like a
whirlwind these past 18 months and starting tomorrow, Dec 5th, 2014,
in addition to my current role as political director of Safer, I will be
assuming the role of treasurer and finance chair of the PAC.

In keeping with our promise to advance the rights of the AZ
cannabis community in any way possible, by all means necessary, Safer AZ is
re-filing our AZ SOS political action committee paperwork and revving up for
2016, continuing to work on legalization, and partnering w MPP of AZ, in
addition to 6 other cannabis activist organizations operating here in AZ (AZ NORML,
PHX NORML, PHX Cannabis Coalition, The Human Solution, Registered Arizona
Medical Marijuana Patients, & Students for a Sensible Drug Policy) to
develop a citizens’ initiative for the legalization and regulation of cannabis
in Arizona.

To my non-cannabis consuming supporters of AZ-04: It is my
fondest hope that you will see this action as in keeping with my commitment to
citizens’ basic rights and advancing AZ into the 21st century. It is
my fervent belief that cannabis prohibition has consciously been used as a
method of social control and it is our role as activists to address this
massive social injustice, in the same way as we need to commit ourselves to the
issues of gender equality, environmental devastation, crony capitalism, and the
other ills of the conservative values agenda—this is a social movement that can
transform America. It is our honor, not our burden, to take up this mantle.

In 20 yrs, in a society freed from cannabis prohibition and
the social mental straitjacket it creates, our society will do a better job at
addressing the needs of the under-classes or exploitations of the elites. There
are a dozen or so avenues of social change that an activist could focus his
entire attention upon in the hopes of making a difference. At one point in my
campaign, I was trying to string together an agenda of the 23 grievances we’d
identified in the Kingman Occupy group. There are not enough people working on
this issue in AZ to give it the attention it deserves, and so for the time
being, I will give it the attention I have.

(For those of you wanting to get a serious picture inside
Safer AZ’s future, there is a peek at the current business plan below.)

I really appreciate all the people who have helped advance
my work as a congressional candidate because they hoped it advanced their goals
as an activist. I promise my work in this specific field is in keeping w your
values. Please keep watching. It may take a bit until this website starts
resuming sustained activity, but rest assured, through Safer AZ we will
continue to work for the good.

Fans of this specific website design and artistic
sensibility, here is an important announcement: After 2 yrs of relentless
pasting of pics and text on this landing page, Google sites has warned we are
nearing the limits of our allotted space for a free website. Since the campaign
is committed to a 2016 run, at some point this site will become an artifact and
a new site will be erected for the 2016 campaign. Rest assured of these two
things: 1. I love the work I have done here since 2012 and will preserve access
to this site as an archive when the new campaign website launches closer to the
2016 election & 2. Whatever site it is that replaces this one, it will kick
even more ass. In the meantime, as long as I can find continuing space here, I
will post updates and set up a smooth transition to the 2016 site; but, for the
most part, for the foreseeable future my efforts will be devoted to Safer AZ’s
site, though I will continue to share blog updates w the blog.

For now and for tomorrow, please continue to believe: in me,
in yourself, in our country’s potential and our abilities to guide it towards a
better future. This past Thanksgiving, as part of my long standing tradition of
actually making contacts on the day and giving thanks to those who I
appreciated, I made 50+ calls and texts before I realized I could not possibly
address all the wonderful souls who have shared themselves hopes with me. If I
were to try to list the names of all those who have contributed time, treasure
or other support to our 2014 effort, I would be at it till 2015 and still leave
folks out.

So, just know, YOU specifically, if YOU did even one Iota to
help me, to help your favorite cause, to help somebody because you believed in
the idea more than you cared whether or not you believed in the actual man, if
you went through hell so somebody else didn’t have too (or if you recognized that
allusion), thank you.

Keep it going!

Mikel

11:56pm 12/4/14

For those wanting a peek into the future of Safer AZ, continue reading below:

Organizational Notes, Safer Arizona

Intro-After
operating principally as a volunteer organization of 4 central activists and
dozens of volunteers w little coordination and no developed income stream
beyond donations of the charter members, Safer Arizona is reorganizing to turn
our operation into a full-scale Political Action Committee, w multiple-income
streams, paid staff, media presence and legislative influence. To do so, Safer
Arizona will have to develop a focus and culture that advances a few basic ideas:

Goals:

Safer Arizona will:

1.Actively work to advance legislation and
citizens’ initiatives to legalize and regulate cannabis on the 2016 ballot.

2.Support political actions, organizations,
business interests and movements in general aiming to legalize and regulate
cannabis in AZ and nationally that meet w our ethical standards.

3.Promote and coordinate the activities of other
individuals and organizations in AZ to increase our movement’s effectiveness.

4.Challenge those opposing cannabis reform in a
variety of platforms; and work as advocates for patients and other defendants
in the criminal justice system for cannabis related offenses.

5.Provide volunteer opportunities for members of
the cannabis community and larger activist community to take personal and group
actions on the issue.

6.Generate funds to advance our activities.

Safer AZ will generate
income in the following ways:

1.Web
Presence: A primary immediate revenue generating goal for SaferArizona.Com
is developing the existing website, or website elements, into a site that serves
as a nexus for the movement with its own merchandizing capabilities; AND is also
functional as a traditional political website in data collection and
fundraising capabilities (i.e. Nationbuilder or equal) w ad space marketing,
either as an exchange w other sites in the industry, or through ad space sales
to industry-aligned businesses.

2.Merchandising:
Already Safer AZ has a recognizable product line: our green tee-shirts w our
signature phrase: “MARIJUANA IS SAFER THAN ALCOHOL,” on the front and our logo
on the back. There are already nearly a 1000 Safer AZ tee-shirts in circulation
in the state and the market for the idea is due to grow exponentially with the
legalization movement catching fire over the next two years. In addition, we
initially want to introduce a small assortment of accessory promotional
products using the same messaging and logo. Among these are logo stickers for
sale and give-away, coffee cups and ball caps. We are also in negotiations w the estate of
Len Richmond, producer/director of the 2010 documentary, “What If Cannabis Cured
Cancer?” to distribute DVDs of the film for little or no cost to use it for
fundraising and educational purposes. We will target the dispensary and smoke
shop industries primarily for our wholesale sales and focus our direct retail
merchandising at events such as “1st Fridays” and concerts, etc. in
addition to cannabis related events and meetings.

3.Campaign
Service Vendor: Safer AZ will create petition gathering/public awareness
events and help promote and coordinate the events of other cannabis activist
groups in partnerships. These partnerships can include consulting fees to
create events or train volunteers in local activities, and most importantly, signature
gathering contracts w the central initiative campaign committee.

4.Direct Political
Fundraising: Using traditional political campaign techniques such as email
promotions, call-time solicitations and partnership-sponsorships from aligned
businesses and organizations, Safer AZ can wield political power just like
other political action committees do. Here, besides the traditional angel-donor
approach, we will be using direct phone and public events solicitations to
encourage small-dollar recurring donors to set up monthly contributions.
Whenever possible we will direct donors to our online portal in the Safer
Arizona website; but officers can also take checks and in the short run should
be equipped w card readers and smart phone software to take card donations in
the field, both for merchandizing and for outright political donations.

5.Events
Production: Safer AZ has various resources in the entertainment community,
especially the 420-friendly entertainment community. We can create 420-friendly
entertainment events around the state to promote the movement and generate
revenue when we get either star-power headliners or all-day festival events w
multiple acts. Ticket sales, vendor space rental and merchandising will give
events production its multiple revenue streams.

6.Media
Marketing:Safer AZ can begin production on a KFNX’s
talk show station hosting a call-in sponsor supported talk show on marijuana
and related topics. KFNX is one of the largest talk radio stations in the
southwest and reaches apx. four million potential listeners in AZ in the
PHX-Tucson listening area. Sponsorships on the radio show could be the radio
advertising access some of those in the industry have been looking for. With
studio time running $250 per week , having as few as 4 sponsors per week would
net the production a profit. KFNX believes this is a demographic waiting to be
marketed to. Leadership in MPP of AZ believe this media access could be a huge
tool towards shaping the media in the upcoming campaign. The station is hoping
to develop this show in time for the New Year.

Safer
AZ Services

As a political action committee Safer AZ
will have to declare a mission statement of sorts or a purpose of intent. As a
collective of activists we will need to create and develop a few initial areas
of operation and can expand according to our resources, both revenue and
manpower.

1.Public
Advocacy: Safer AZ is a voice for the public and will maintain a web and
public presence, both in creating demonstrations, entertainment and educational
events around the community around the state; but also at the state capitol as
a legislative activist organizer helping patients and others in the community
get their stories and desires to our legislators so they can better shape
public policy.

2.Cannabis
Activist Volunteer Organization: As the 2016 campaign becomes more visible,
more and more people will want to become volunteers in the movement and will
need a place to connect. Safer AZ can be that nexus. With our two years of
experience as an organization run by people who operated in their “spare time,”
we have already proven that we can organize activists online, at public
demonstrations around the state and at the capitol. Moving forward

3.Social Media Communications: Safer AZ
is an organization born online (when founded the 4 original activists each
lived in separate cities, with one member (Dave Wisniewski stationed in South
Korea for the first full year of operations). These days Safer Arizona has a
Facebook following of nearly 5000 and an average weekly readership over 3500.
We have created and led email and phone call campaigns and serves as a nexus
for various activists and groups to spread word of their own activities.

4.Legislative
Action: Safer AZ successfully introduced a cannabis decriminalization bill
last session, HB2474 to address felony arrest provisions in state law. We also
led the challenges to various anti-cannabis rights legislation and blocked
several bills. Safer AZ is focused on developing the relationships w state
legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle and being a watchdog on
cannabis-related legislative activity to help the larger community keep
informed of statehouse developments.

5.Electoral
Watchdog: Through our web pages, Safer AZ has tracked both elected
officials and candidates’ positions on cannabis related issues, creating
district level maps so voters can support pro-cannabis issues at the ballot
box.

6.Counter-Propaganda
Force: As the national legalization
movement intensifies our opponents are increasing their campaigns of
misinformation and incarceration. In AZ the leaders of the anti-cannabis
community and the leaders of the state prosecutors and law enforcement have
banded together to power an anti-cannabis media campaign through their organization,
Matforce. Safer AZ is committed to challenging Matforce propaganda both through
our web presence and in person, by helping local activists organize
counter-protests and court support for cannabis defendants. We provide speakers
to various civic organizations, public debates, and news media needing a quote
from an authoritative source. In addition to our own members, Safer AZ has
helped organizations get additional cannabis leaders as speakers and are ready
to act around the state to challenge Matforce when necessary.

7.Community
Volunteer Opportunity: One of the most important things Safer AZ provides
is an outlet for activists. AZ is catching the green rush and thousands of
citizens are wanting a way to act. Safer AZ is creating a database of our
nearly 200 activists around the state and developing a monthly newsletter to
keep the community informed. With a statewide reach, Safer AZ can help local
citizens develop their own programs and connect to the larger movement.

Here are the tasks
volunteers can help w.

1.Host an awareness event in your home or in your community

2.Letter writing to your local media and elected
officials and to state and federal officials

3.Creating a 420-friendly entertainment event in
your community

4.Attending and staffing demonstrations and events
in the PHX area

5.Representing Safer AZ and the cannabis reform
community at public events and debates

6.Manning a Safer Arizona booth at community
events

7.Collecting signatures

8.Share on social media

9.Connect us to your family and friends so we can
expand our reach.

10.Attend a local political meeting or elected
officials meetings

11.Make $5 monthly donation

12.Take leadership position in organizing and
training others in your area after you’ve worked w us a while.

Legislative Agenda

As a political action committee
Safer AZ has already developed connections to nearly half of the 2012 AZ state
legislature. Our model legislation, “The Harm Reduction Measure,” (which called
for removing state statute that requires that all cannabis-related arrests are listed
as felonies) attracted the attention and support of 15 AZ state legislators and
was introduced as HB2474.

This cycle Safer AZ is working
with Tom Dean, former national legal counsel for NORML, to develop model
legislations to address the following issues:

Safer AZ as a political action
committee is governed by a board of directors and required to have posts of a
chair, or president, and a treasurer. In addition, Safer AZ requires having
certain areas of operations delegated to various officers and volunteers. While
there are numerous vacancies and much overlap in current operations, we are
projecting to fill in these roles:

Finance Director—Responsible for generating and managing operating
capitol, this person will work w executive director and treasurer to generate
funds and set an operating budget. As the organization expands this office may
add call-time assistants or fundraising consultants.

Executive Director—Responsible for managing office day-to-day ongoing
operations, this person will work w finance committee to generate funds and set
operating budget w the volunteer coordinator and political director. As the
organization expands this office may add a secretary/receptionist.

Volunteer Coordinator—Responsible for developing and maintaining
volunteer activities and records, this person will work w the political
director and executive director to create and direct activities of volunteers
around the state, in particular in events creation and petition gathering. As
the organization expands this office may add regional volunteer coordinators.
Currently John Howlett of Buckeye and Mark Goodman of Prescott Valley have
offered to assist in their areas.

Political Director—Responsible for creating and implementing the
strategies and directing the resources of the group, this person works w the executive
director and the volunteer coordinator to develop volunteer projects (such as
educational presentations and demonstrations), legislative activity,
communications strategy and instruments, and shaping fundraising projects. As the organization expands this office may
add legislative activist or lawyer

Communications Officer—Responsible for maintaining the Safer AZ
website, Facebook group, newsletter, press releases, internal communications
and Twitter feeds, this person will work w the executive director and political
director to create political materials, maintain a content stream for our
website and newsletters, assist w internal communications and manage the social
network of activists that gravitate to our online presence. As the organization
expands this office may add a website designer to upgrade our operations.

Events Coordinator—Responsible for creating and promoting educational
and entertainment events, this person will work with the political director and
volunteer coordinator to create and manage an ongoing educational program as part
of our outreach and for-profit large scale entertainment events. The
communications office and finance director will also assist this office.

Division of Labor

Currently Safer AZ, unofficially, has
two full-time unpaid staff, Mikel Weisser and Robert Clark. Dave Wisniewski and
Dennis Bohlke, who have both done extensive volunteer service, are also
volunteering in a part-time to half-time basis. Additionally there are other
volunteers who have volunteered as various levels of involvement and will be
invited to consider taking some of these roles from the four principals.

Division of Operations

Geographically Safer AZ has an
obligation to the AZ cannabis community to develop a statewide reach in both
our activism and our advocacy. Due to the massive area of the state, both in
terms of the cannabis consumer community and the AZ medical marijuana industry,
we will be dividing the state into operating regions for volunteer coordination
and AZ CHAAs (Community Health Assessment Areas) for fundraising and
merchandising concerns. Volunteers will be identified 1st by their
general region of the state: PHX, Tucson, Rural North & Rural South. As the
organization expands, this division can be further split up according to
congressional districts for the PHX metro area and legislative districts for
all other areas.

About Me

We are occupying the left coast of Arizona, disorganizing people from Yuma to Utah and the Colorado River to Cottonwood! This District was built for an Extremist Republican like the three talking heads that are running, Gould, Gosar, and Babeu. Please help us change the discussion in AZ CD 4. We need your support! Mikel Weisser is a social studies teacher, poet, and activist with progressive vision and energy.